November 5, 2013

New tastes!

I've been hooked on a new breakfast for the past few days, and it's kind of unusual. I've been eating cheese grits for a few months now, and the other day, I bought some Brussels sprouts. So I sauteed the Brussels sprouts and put them on top of my cheese grits for a really good (savory) breakfast!

I use the 5-minute grits, and just cook 1/4 cup of them in 1 cup of chicken broth (in the microwave). Then I add 1 oz. of queso quesadilla cheese and stir it in. For the Brussels sprouts, I just quarter them and saute them in 1 tsp. of coconut oil. The whole thing is only 6 PointsPlus, and it's very filling.

I've also been waiting until a little later to run in the mornings. Yesterday, when I did my 5K time trial, I ran at 1:00 pm! Today, I only planned to run three miles at an easy pace, so I just headed out in the late morning after breakfast.

Three "easy" miles felt SO hard today! I'm starting to get discouraged by how hard running has felt ever since the Chicago Marathon. I don't think my body is still feeling the effects of the race--it's been over three weeks!--but I am not sure what else could be the cause. I'm sure the fact that my weight is up has a lot to do with it, which is even more discouraging.

Anyway, I ran three miles, and was huffing and puffing the whole way.

I haven't had a single run since the marathon that made me feel a big runner's high, and I miss that feeling. Even yesterday, when I ran a hard 5K, I felt like it was way harder than it should have been. I hope that I get my running groove back soon!
I've been forgetting to do Taste Test Tuesday, so I have a few things to write about today. First, there is this impulse buy from TJ Maxx:

I normally don't drink coffee, and if I do, it's always decaf; but when Jerry spotted this at TJ Maxx, I decided I was going to try a cup, because it looked so good! Well, save your money. It tastes NOTHING like PB Cups. Honestly, I couldn't even taste anything other than coffee, and it wasn't even good coffee. Jerry agreed. It got a thumbs down from both of us.
After I finished the Chicago Marathon we were given a bunch of snacks in a box, and one of them was belVita breakfast biscuits. I'd never tried them before, and honestly, they didn't look or sound very appealing. But I took a bite, and I was wowed. They are SO good!

They remind me of those Nature Valley crunchy granola bars (you know the ones that make a huge mess when you eat them?), but they don't fall apart and they aren't AS hard. They have the texture of a graham cracker, and the flavor of the Nature Valley bars. There are a bunch of different flavors, but the Golden Oat is what they passed out at the race, and that's what I ended up buying. (They're 6 PointsPlus per package, which contains 4 biscuits)

Clif Bar recently sent me a sample of each of their seasonal flavors. I love Clif Bars, so I was excited to try these! I really liked the Pecan Pie flavor; the Iced Gingerbread was pretty good; and I didn't care for the Spiced Pumpkin Pie one at all (the spice was VERY strong). None of them really wowed me like their Trail Mix flavor, though!

I just got these teas in the mail today, so I haven't tried them yet. David's Tea just released their Winter Collection, so even though I wasn't in need of any tea at the moment, I was dying to try these ones! I'll give them a try tomorrow and write my thoughts. The Coffee Cake one smells really good, kind of like the Red Velvet Cake flavor. The Choconut Oolong smells pretty good, too, like chocolate/hazelnut.

Tomorrow is a rest day, so I think I'll take some time in the morning to plan out my meals for a week or so. I always do better with a plan!

i think i'll try those belvitas!! i was thinking of ordering other flavors of clif bars, like the holiday flavors. i find that my grocery stores don't carry any interesting flavors besides the usuals. i love the mini clif bars but i think i'll just order full size ones and just cut them up.. they're great for my days at school!

I absolutely LOVE Brussels sprouts, and usually roast them. I will have to try them like this. I love grits and have some about every couple weeks, but I wouldn't have thought to combine the 2. Belvitas are so good! I love to have them for breakfast with coffee, and I'll have a small amount of yogurt for some protein. My kids like them, too. My favs are the blueberry and brown sugar ones. I have felt the same way about running lately. Back in the spring I was regularly running 3 miles in 30 minutes and under most days. Now to get under 31 is hard. UGH My weight has been up all summer and hasn't budged. I am hoping after my half marathon on the 16th I'll start losing again. I hope your runs get better and that writing up your plan helps. I need to do the same thing. I do much better when my meals are planned out.

I LOVE brussel sprouts and often eat my leftovers from the night before for breakfast. I've never thought of trying them with cheese grits but it sounds delicious!

Are the BelVita biscuits filling? Otherwise 6 PP seems like a lot for breakfast, at least for me!

And lastly - do you usually get a runner's high when you run 3 miles? Someone recently told me they don't think people get runner's highs until after they've been running for close to an hour, and I know that's pretty true for me. So maybe the lack of distance is contributing to the sluggish feeling? But I also think it's entirely possible that this is a side effect of the Hanson method - you ran SO MUCH all the time that the change in mileage is pretty drastic and is having an effect on your body.

When I tried to do the Insanity workouts- day after day of high intensity interval training-I began to feel really exhausted and not like myself. I was in pretty good shape and had done P90X just a few months prior. Sometime later I read in one of Mark Sisson's (former distance runner and paleo guru) books that you can check your first-thing-in-the-morning heart rate on consecutive days to see if it's slightly elevated/above normal which can apparently be a sign of over-training. I bet you are still recovering from the marathon even though the other signs like soreness aren't present. As always, thanks for your blog, Katie! I rarely comment but so enjoy reading about your journey.

I think the harder we try for that runner's high, the less likely we are to get it. I wish I could explain that better, but I know I never get it until I stop caring whether I get it or not. Does that make any sense?

Hi! I cracked up when I read about the Nature Valley bars that make a huge mess because my kids love those, and I agree they are delicious but I HATE the mess! I love your brussel sprout idea. What are you using for your cheese grits? Instant?

Those bars look amazing!! Speaking of bars--I have been buying mine through your Amazon link. Given that people are about to start doing holiday shopping (and many have probably already begun), maybe consider adding the link to a post? I bet a good number of people would use it! I know it's not much but it's a way to say thanks for all of the effort you put into blogging and for being so inspiring.

I'll have to try those belVitas, I've been seeing them in the store forever. One thing that I occasionally buy, but which is hard for me to have in the house, are the Biscoff cookies. Something that is really decadent, is to dip the cookie in the Biscoff spread. HOLY COW! No wonder I'm gaining weight!

I'm so glad you wrote this post, and today. I haven't run a marathon recently, but recently I've been having more of those "huffing and puffing" running days. It's great to hear that I'm not alone (though I'm sorry you're having those too!). And it makes those amazing running / runner's high days so much more worth it! It also helps for me to remind myself that my huffing/puffing slow days aren't slow for everyone.

PS - sorry for the multiple comments ... but I have been loving savory breakfasts lately too! For the past few months each day I have veggies and eggs or egg whites. Veggies include spag. squash, brussells sprouts, spinach, broccoli, etc. I'll have to try grits!!

I'd love to hear from you! I read all of my comments, and if you have a question, I do my best to respond; sometimes, however, I get busy and forget to go back to reply, so if it's important, just email me! :) (I had to turn on comment moderation due to a ton of spam comments; but I will approve your comment asap!)

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